>> i would just say to my good friend from wisconsin, that was part of the story. >> i thank my good friend from california. >> the domestic pos parity and global freedom act sponsored by my good friend. >> this has british lineage. i comes from parliament hundreds of years ago if you've ever seen the proceedings of the house of commons, they say something similar, the right honor gentlemen. it's a thinly vailed approach to trying to be polite to somebody you don't really compare for. and at least in the house of represents where there are 435 members, a lot of the men and women don't know who each other is. i would say in the case of the

senate, there's only 100. they probably know each other. they might not like each other anymore but at least there ooh's a chance of them being acquaintances if not good friends. >> journalist david mark on the world of political terminology sunday night at 8:00 eastern. jennifer epstein has been following today's immigration developments. she is white house reporter with politico. let's break this down, first of all. what specifically will the president announce? >> so the white house hasn't actually what the president will announce to the press. but they've begun the process of briefing advocates and other people who work closely with the administration on immigration over the last couple of years that the big piece of it will be that he is shielding as many of 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. it's kind of what's been out there recently.

and it is indeed what the white house intends to do. that includes 4 million undocumented immigrations who have qualified for deferred deportations and another million who would get it through other means. >> and of course this is generating a lot of congressional reaction. senator ted cruz saying the president would be acting like a monarch and the spokesperson for speaker boehner is calling him emperor obama. >> you know, that's the argument that the white house and people aligned with the white house have been making very strongly this week. we know from some of the talking points that have been leaked that it's something that the white house wanted to make clear to its supporters is pointing to the executive actions that ronald reagan, george h.w. bush, george w. bush took on

immigration, that the white house argues we don't know yet for sure, we're sort of in line with what the president is doing this week, but are things that were done by republicans and now we have the republicans saying that president obama is reaching too far with what he intends to do. so that's kind of the argument that's coming from the white house on this. and at the same time, what we're seeing from republicans on the hill is a very clear direction that they're going in which is this overreach, which is this king obama, which is what the chairman of the republican national committee called it this afternoon, emperor obama from boehner spokesman, michael steel. you know, and then ted cruz writing in politico that obama is acting as an monarch and then suggesting how the republicans should respond. one thing he would like to see

is for mitch mcconnell, when he takes the helm as senate majority leader come january to announce that the senate will not be confirming any of the president's nominees except those needed to be in place for critical national security functions until the president reverses course on these executive actions. and he also -- and ted cruz also suggests that congress, which will be fully in republican hands, choose to pass funding bills for the government, department by department and to, you know, attach writers that make it so that the administration can't enforce the orders that the president puts through. it's very much about trying to restrict the president financially and then to also try to take -- hurt him, you know, somewhere else with the various nominations.

>> jennifer epstein, this came up in today's daily briefing with white house press secretary josh earnest, but is the white house worried that this executive action poison the well on any congressional action dealing with immigration moving ahead? >> you know, the white house has been very reluctant to agree with that poison the well argument. they point to the fact that there hasn't been any progress on immigration coming from house republicans in the more than a year since the senate passed its comprehensive reform bill. so they're much more in that kind of direction than they are in the direction of saying we are attempting to help in a different way. >> and what about the mechanics of the announcement? we had the facebook posting today by whitehouse.gov. what can we expect today and tomorrow? >> the next piece of it is going

to be the president speaking at 8:00 p.m. it's not going to be on the major tv networks. it will be on telemundo and univision. it will also be streaming online and very aggressively live tweeted by washington political journalists. you know, available through other means. that's sort of the white house's argument just in general with its communications is that it's more about the targeted outreach, so spanish language media and social media to get out the the president's strongest supporters. >> jennifer epstein, white house reporter for politico. thanks very much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> tonight, president obama will announce executive action on immigration. we'll bring you his remarks live at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span.

homeland security secretary jeh johnson spoke on thursday at the obama administration's enforcement record. his remarks came one day before president obama's announcement of his executive action on immigration. >> morning, everybody. thanks for being here, earn. i'm simon rosin burg from indiana, the new policy institute. we're excited today to welcome back the secretary of homeland security, not this particular one, but this is the second time that we've been able to host the secretary of homeland security for an important talk on our

boarder and immigration enforcement success in recent years. janet that pal tan no visited us in 2007. we're glad to have these people on the front lines come and address our border initiative over the last four years. i'm here today in part representing this project that we began four years ago that was born out of a basic sense that the conversation happening in the elite media and in policy circles in d.c. about what was happening on the border to not really preflect the true reality of what was happening there. i'm lucky enough to be married to a wonderful woman who grow up in new mexico. i've spent a lot of time in the south western part of the united states. as somebody who has been part of the immigration debate from the very beginning in 2005, i really felt that there was a need to try to bring more data, fact and

truth to an important part of this conversation about how we were going to fix a broken immigration system. and i'm proud that just over this period of time we've released many reports and conducted many events here in town. we've brought dozens and dozens of leaders on both the u.s. side and the mexico side to washington for dialogues with policymakers here. we've been directly involved in some of the more important advances we've seen in the u.s./mexico relationship over the last few years, including the important administration decision about tourism that was done back in 2011 or 2012. we were instrumental in creating the dialogue. we helped start the border caucus in the house in 2014 which is providing a far more amp fiezed voice for those who

represent the border region in the current debate. we also led the effort to strip the order search out of the senate bill when it moved over to the house, which is something i thought was an enlightened moment of the house democrats who have improved what was a very good bill that came out of the senate last year. we were also involved in efforts to increase -- at the end of 2013 we saw an increase in funding for customs agents. it was something we fought for. it was the first time we had had an increase in customs agents on the border without an increase in border patrol in recent years. that was another sign of how important the trade aspect of this relationship is. part of what i just want to -- those of you who know me and have heard me talk about this before, i just want to, as teeing up our guest today, just reflect on the five things that we often talk the most about. what i have to say as someone

who, when i got into this, i didn't really understand, i think, the enormity of the challenge of keeping our borders safe and our immigration system given the size of the undocumented population and just given the mobility of our country with so many people moving around, in and out of it every day. this is an extraordinary undertaking. if you look at the border today, 2,000 miles long, over a million people cross it every day, over a billion dollars of trade every day. i often say in english we call it the border. in spanish it's called frontera. it's not the enl of our relationship with mexico. it's the center of it now. and certainly the 2,000-mile-long border that we may have be single most valuable piece of infrastructure that the

united states has today. and i hope it can be seen that way in the years to come. what we're going to discuss is a few highlights and i want to reflect upon why i think we will, in future years we'll look back in the era, in the obama era, one of the policy successes in their amount has been the border itself and immigration enforcement. let's go through it. crime is down all along the u.s. side of the u.s./mexico border. today the two largest cities on the border are the two safest large cities in all of the united states. second is net flow of undocumented immigrants into the united states where the flow itself is way down. net my grags into the u.s. is zero today. under bill clinton it was 600,000 a year, under george bush it was 400,000 a year. the undocumented increased in the early '90s.

during the entire obama presidency there's been in increase in the undocumented population in the u.s. it stands at 11.2 million today. i was 11.3 when he came into office. something that will be a major point of the debate if the president takes executive action is starting in 2011 with the morton strategy, this administration began to prioritize in a smart way its resources in the immigration system which has led to a far more humane system where long settled families no longer have the same degree of threat of deportation as they had before, while also freeing up resources. it's been a contributor to keeping the net flow low. while all of the security gains have been made, we've also sin seen an extraordinary increase in trade. we've almost seen a doubling of

trade with mexico despite a slow economy here in the u.s. it has been a huge economic story. and today mexico stands as our third largest trading partner in the world and the second largest export market for american goods. mexico buys twice as much from the united states as china does with 1/15th of the population. so the economic relationship has flourished even at a time of enormous security gains. and finally i think we'll become to know, when' ear going to hear about this from the secretary, that the management of the central american migrant crisis this year, while it was tough and it's been a difficult ka policy challenge for the united states, i think we will see this as a success of this approach and not something other than that. and the secretary will be getting into that. but certainly crises happen,

things happen. it's houb you deal with them. as a speaker went through the details and how the government responds, i think we'll mark down as one of the signs of our ability to manage this complex things called the border and work cooperatively with our neighbor to the south. the basic premises of the work that we've been doing, we've made tremendous progress here. this is a tough issue. 200,000 miles long, hundreds of thousands of people are involved on the borders every day in managing this, enabling trade flows and keeping the levels of security that both countries require. the politics have been as brutal as they come in washington. and despite all of this we've seen tremendous progress. certainly helping tell that story in the coming months if we're about to have a big debate around immigration and the border system, it's going to be

a critical part and a role we're going to play to be sure that this is being told right and that the administration gets far more credit for what they have done. and so to reflect on all of this, we have a very special guest today. jeh johnson doesn't really need a major introduction. you know he's made his mark as a forceful and thaurthful and very able secretary of the department of homeland security. but i think the one thing that i always -- my wife goes to work at the department of homeland security every day. enjoys her work so much and fills so fulfilled in what he says. the one thing people don't understand in this town, this may be, other than the president, the hardest job in washington, the skam of what they deal with every day, the counter terrorism, cyber security, emergency response, it's an incredible portfolio of

really tough issues that are super important for the country. and we are lucky that the president was able to persuade jeh johnson to take this on. please wejoin me in welcoming t secretary of homeland security, jeh johnson. >> thank you very much, simon. thank you for the nice introduction. the number of people in this town willing to say nice things about me is getting smaller and smaller. thank you also for katelyn's service as assistanis -- assist. i'm going to speak very briefly and then i'll be able to take a couple of questions. let me offer a couple of thoughts. first, people often refer to the incredible portfolio that we have in the department of

homeland security, diverse range of missions from counterterrorism to hurricanes and aviation security, some people even ask, well was it a mistake to create such a large department of government like this. is it too big to manage. my answer to that is, you have to look at where all of these missions and components were before 9/11, spread across literally dozens of agencies and a number of cabinet level departments ranging from the department of agriculture and the department of energy, treasury, justice, no one cabinet level official responsible for homeland security, border security, treasury and so forth. just within the last 11 months that i've been in office i've seen dealing, for example, with the situation that we had this summer in the rio grand valley,

the virtue of having at one conference table the officials of our government responsible for aviation security, border security, maritime security, to deal with a comprehensive way various situations that arise like the situation that occurred in the rio grande valley sector. there is one cabinet level official responsible for the land/sea/border air protection. we are moving toward, in general, a risk based strategy to homeland security. perhaps the most notable example of that is tsa.

tsa has tsa precheck. a lot of people here are a member of tsa precheck, i'm sure. submit some information on background, you get to the airport, there's a shorter line. less aviation security, less screening when you get there. it enables us to free up resources to divert toward the class of individuals we know less about at the airports. so tsa, under the leadership of john pistol, has actually become kind of popular with the american public. it's the agency of government that the public deals with the most. people are actually saying nice things about tsa. at the same time we've developed and grown tsa pre-check -- there's an amazing fact i like to repeat to audiences. just in the first ten months of calendar year 2014, while we have tsa pre-check, tsa has also

seizeds from the carry john luggage of aviation packages, people getting ready to get on the airplane that you fly, 1,855 firearms in carey john luggage, 1,571 of which were loaded. over 3,000 various weapons seized by tsa in the first ten months of 2014 alone. i salute the work of this organization. there is a lot of misunderstanding, misapprehensions about the state of our border security right now, particularly the southern border. one of the things that i'm devoted to is more transparency when it comes to the numbers of people apprehended, people removed in the course of any fiscal year. i think there's a fair amount of

misunderstanding and mystery surrounding the numbers. so i'm committed to more transparency and we're developing better ways to make that happen. it is in fact the case that under president obama in particular, and over the last three presidents, presidents clinton, bush and obama, we've devoted an unprecedented amount of resources, personnel, technology to border security, particularly the southern border. i gave a speech at csis about a month ago where i talked in detail about our border security efforts, the number of different border patrol agents which has gone from 8,600 in the year 2005 to over 18,000 now. the day president obama took office there were approximately 15,700 border patrol agents.

there are now over 18,000 mount a defense of various types on the southern border has gone from 267 in 2009 to over 700 now on the southern border. we've gone from 56 to 107 aircraft in the last 15 years. we now have unmanned ariel vehicl -- aerial vehicles. all sorts of surveillance technology, mobile surveillance technology. night vision technology. and this investment by our presidents, the congress, with the support of the american public has shown results. a lot of illegal migration is driven by push/pull factors relating to economics, the economy in the country you're leaving and the economy in the country you're going to.

very clearly the violence, poverty in countries where migrants leave from. so there's an economic aspect to illegal migration very clearly. but in fiscal year 2000, ap mentions on the southern border, which are an indicator of total attempts to cross the borders, reached a high of 1.643 million. the last several years it's been down 70% from that, to around 400 to 500,000 a year. as simon noted, the population of undocumented in this country reached a high of 12.2 million in 2006. today it's now around, according to pugh estimates, 11.3 million. it's stopped growing and actually decreased over the last

few years. it's stopped growing since the 1980s. this summer we saw the spike in illegal migration in the rio grande valley sector. overall, the number of apprehensions on the southern border in this past fiscal year was about 480,000, 55% of which were just in the rio grande valley sector alone. i saw the situation myself in a number of visits to south texas, to mcallen, to new mexico, to phoenix. it was clearly a humanitarian aspect to our response but we responded aggressively to the spike this past summer with a number of things we put in place. we searched resource to the southern board enand we embarked upon, in consultation with the governments in south america, an aggressive public awareness

campaign about the dangers of the trip for a child. and the numbers today of unaccompanied children crossing the southwest border are at the lowest they've been in almost two years. the high point was june 10th, 2014. and it dropped dramatically from that point forward to the point where the number of unaccompanied children crossing the southern border in the rio grande valley sector in particular, the lowest it's been in almost two years. all of this is driven definitely by push and pug factors and i referred to a moment ago. but we're determined that we need to do more ourselves for border security. i'm concerned about the possibility of another rise in illegal migration. much of it is seasonal. it begins to climb each year at the beginning of the year and peaks in the early summer and then drops off when it gets hot

in the late summer. so we're concerned about another rise. and we have to guard against another rise in illegal migration of the type we saw this past summer. so we have to be aware of the fact that the economy in this country is getting better. so we're committed to sustaining the infrastructure that was put in place. we announced several days ago the opening of another detention facility in texas that has the capability to detain adults with their children. we've announced the closure of the facility we established last summer on the campus in new mexico. that was intended to be temporary. we announced the closure of it. but we're building more detention infrastructure. some people are critical of that.

in my view it is essential to border security that we have this infrastructure in place to guard against additional rises noo illegal migration. we engaged the governments of central america last summer and we'll continue to do that. we engaged the government of mexico last summer and we'll continue to do that. we've embarked upon a campaign that i directed called the southern border campaign strategy to deal in a dhs-wide way with the issue of border security. cvp does its things, i.c.e. does it thing and the coast guard does it thing.

i've directed the formation of joint task forces and a joint task force director to bring to bear the resources of our department in each of those sectors on border security, and a separate joint task force for investigation to support the other two. i've directed the creation of border security metrics that will define publicly how we define border security. i'll say one thing about executive actions. i do not want and will not get out ahead of the president in the announcement that he will make in the coming days. but i will say this. as the president has said many times, legislative action is always preferable. but we've waited now for years for the congress to act and the congress has not acted.

in 2013 the senate passed a comprehensive bill by a vote of 68-32, a bipartisan coalition in support of immigration reform. the house did not act. the house did not act in 2013. the house has not acted in 2014. the president has waited. in the meantime we've identified a number of executive actions that we can take within our existing legal authority to fix what everyone recognizes as a broken immigration system. and so our reforms will be comprehensive. i am satisfied that our reforms are within our existing legal authorities and they will address a number of things, including border security. the president is committed to border security. the president is committed to

reducing illegal my grags in the future. and so will be announcing a set of comprehensive reforms all within our existing legal authority to fix the broken immigration system. so with that, i'm happy to answer questions. >> have a seat. thank you. [ applause ] >> don't clap until you've heard the answers to my questions. >> and if you would like to get your questions into the cue, you have cards on your table. please fill them out, put your name on it. if you don't have cards, people have been aggressive at your table. we'll try to find you more. and we're going to take a few questions now. but all of the questions will be done through -- i'll be reading them -- >> assuming you can read their handwriting. >> most of them except for

alicia caldwell. we've already gotten some great questions. let me start with a couple from me and then we'll dive into the public questions. first of all in 2011 dhs, john morton issued something called a morton memo which said new priorities for removal in the u.s. has it worked? has it been successful in are we saver today because of it? >> i'm very familiar with the morton memo. there are several morton memos. there's a lot of guidance issued by i.c.e. about priorities for removal. and in my view, the guidance could be clearer. one can remain fully committed to prioritizing threats to national security, public

safety, border security, and at the same time provide clear guidance to the fields, to the workers out there who enforce and ad minister the immigration laws, or enforcement priorities. one of the things that i'm committed to -- and i learned this from being the senior lawyer for the department of defense. the field -- you know, you can issue policy statements from washington. but the field has to be clear about what it is that is expected of them. and so i'm committed to making sure that whatever we do is properly explained to the

workforce. people in the field may not always agree with our policies, but in my judgment, if they understand them and they feel as though their views have been heard and reflected in some way, that presents a good equation for success and the implementation of it. so working in the department of defense, which is, you know, a very, very large organization of 3 million people, in my experience, if you properly educate and train the workforce on the policies that you want to bring about, they have greater chance for success and implementation in a way that seems to be reflected in the policy statements. and so that is a priority for me. i think that the morton memo, the march morton memo that you referred to, march 2011, could use some additional clarity.

and i know that the i.c.e. leadership agrees with that. >> so we should expect that? >> i didn't say that. that's my view. >> related to that, what have we learned from dacca and what kind of lessons have we learned about the use of prosecutorial discretion, the use of a process that affects, could affect over a million people. we're in the second round of dacca. what have you taken away in your first year here in terms of how successful has it been, what can we learn, what can we do better? >> cis has learned a lot about implementation of such a program from that experience. something like over 700,000 people have applied. we're in the renewal phase right now. i think there has been something

like 600,000 who have been accepted into dacca. very definitely when you start up a new program there are lessons learned in doing so. and i think from my -- i wasn't part of dhs in 2012. but my observation is that while there may have been some bumps in the road in the startup of it, like there are in any government program, the implementation of it has gone relatively well. it's obviously made a lot of people happy and provided for a better life for a lot of people. so that's my take on it. >> i'll just say that we've seen a report that's about to come out any day from an academic in california who has looked at some of the -- when people applied, reapplied, they had to

put down some data on their earnings and their income. and the data -- he's now going to be releasing an initial analysis showing a significant increase in the earnings of the dacca recipients in the first two years, which is all what we hoped. i just want to say, by the way, you guys have done a great job. the questions are terrific. thank you. we've got some fun ones comiing up here, mr. secretary. adult and child retention, we have a new facility. we've gotten a series of questions about the propriety of this type of detention for -- as was written here, the american immigration lawyer association yesterday and 130 organizations sent the president a letter asking him to stop the massive family detentions. what are your thoughts on how we go forward here?

>> before the experience of the summer of the 32, 34,000 detention beds that i.c.e. mtran trains, something like 95 were available for family units for adults who bring their kids across the border. that is a very, very, very small fraction of the total capacity. and so when we had the situation this summer, rather than just simply apprehending them, processing them and sending them to the nearest bus station so they can go into the interior, we're talking about the family units now. and the numbers of individuals in family units was very similar

month to month, day to day, as the number of unaccompanied kids that were crossing the border other the summer. rather than just simply sending them to the nearest bus station, we felt it necessary to build additional detention capability for family units, in part because it is important to send the message in the midst of a spike that if you come here and you invest $8,000 paying to a coyote to come here, don't assume you're going to get here and be able to stay. so we built ar tee gentleman. i visited there myself when we opened it. very definitely there are some things that we should have done and did to improve the ability

for attorney clients to communicate. it is definitely in a remote area. i think dily is too. we've done things to improve the attorney client relationship, the communications there, the ability of communicate, we're still working on that. in my view, maintaining the capacity for the detention of adults who bring their kids across the border is a critical component to border security. and that we need to continue to have that capacity. that's my view and i think that just 95 beds out of 34,000 is not sufficient for that purpose when you're dealing with family units. >> wait times on the border. trade has exploded so rapidly, the infrastructure was that we have for trade facilitation

along the border was really constructed for the trade relationship, probably about one-third the current size of what we have now. wait times are increasing and slowing down economic growth on both sides. >> wait times at airports? >> wait times in mexico coming into the u.s. the wait times on the southern border for cargo and people coming into the u.s. has increased in some cases. we've made investments and decreased. what are your thoughts about what we can be doing over the next five to ten years to invest in border infrastructure to help make sure that we cannot only keep up with the current levels of trade but anticipate the increasing levels? >> this is something that president obama and president

pint and the prime minister harper are aware of. the three of them got together in march to talk about increasing trade, facilitate lawful trade and travel. frankly i did not appreciate until i got into the job that a big part of my job is promoting, facilitating lawful trade and travel because we have the customs component within dhs. and so the three leaders have embarked upon a number of initiative to do that. with the canadians we have the beyond the border issue. i was just in ottawa in september meeting with my counter parts there to talk about that, how we built on that. we want to continue to build infla structure within our budget constraints to facility lawful trade and travel. but we also want to make it more efficient, easier from a

bureaucratic standpoint. a single point of entry into our complex system for managing exports and imports so that somebody who is exporting or importing good into or out of this country has the single point of entry into a government agency. i'm hoping that the minister and i will sign an agreement soon enhancing preclearance ca apeabilities in canada. it has the advantage of promoting security but also promoting lawful stable. so he and i will be signing an agreement like that very, very soon. and we continue to look with mexico to a number of ways we can build trade there. it's very important. it's very important to the relationship. it's a high priority of the president and therefore a high priority of mine.

>> i was lucky enough to be in a meeting with the president and vice president before they went to mexico in the fall of last year and i talked about border infrastructure. when he did his talk at the end, he summarized his discussion. he went on at length about the board ner a nerdy way and i was blown away by the department of his understanding of how central this is to our economy. i think we've made strides in recent years. there's been significant -- the nogallos opening. but this is an area of -- i think our policymakers have a lot to do to continue to make up. two more and then we'll let you go because i know you have a lot to do in the next few days. i should say, by the way, there were a series of questions about

the timing of the announcement. you know, what we know from news reports this morning is that the president will be giving a speech in las vegas on friday. one of the fun questions was are you going to be there, mr. secretary. >> no. >> haven't checked your schedule yet. could be a fun week for all of us. a couple more then we'll let you go. this is from a good friend from fox who has been writing with great thoughtfulness about these issues in months. >> where is the fox reporter? >> this is fox. lucas is here. where are you? >> go ahead. >> lucas, i don't know if you submitted anything. so she asked an interesting

question getting back to morton, the memos is that currently we've deprioritized the deportation of people without criminal records and there's been a significant change in the way that we manage the interior deportation system. in 2013 there were only 10,000 noncriminal and nonlawful entrants who were deported out of the u.s. this is not something that's well understood. let's say the executive action covers, you know, half or so of the undocumented population. what happens in terms of deportation priorities with the rest? >> well, reality is we have a finite level of resources to enforce our immigration laws. so like virtually every other law enforcement agency, we have to prioritize.

some people seem to deny the very existence of prosecutorial discretion, but it exists in every federal law enforcement agency. you have to prioritize and you don't leave it to the individuals on the ground to figure out the priorities. the policies should be set at a senior level. and so we have in fact prioritized border security, public safety, national security which is why the very high percentage of those who are convicted of various types of crimes. i think that's a good policy. i think it should be maintained. so long as we have a fie ghiet number of resources, we need to continue to focus on behalf of public safety and the american public, those who represent threats to public safety, border security and national security.

and i fully expect that the policy will continue. >> final question. so what we are hearing is that whatever kbek tif action comes, the family ties will be a significant component of it. lgbt, there are 267,000 lgbt undocumented americans out of the pool of 11 million who lack the sort of formal family ties. is there any thought given to how, you know, as you remake the system and you're constantly remaking the system, i would argue that this administration has made our border far safer, the immigration system far better and more humane in recent years. i know that's a debatable point but it's something we believe. how do we think about this issue? >> i'll say this. family unify occasion, family

unity is a policy reflected in our immigration laws. i think it's a good policy. and so -- and i believe the policy priority of family unity, family unification should continue and be maintained. i believe in the sanctity of the family unit. i know the president believes in the sanctity of the family unit. i've told this story many times. i'll never forget it. my first visit to mcallen station, may 11th, 2014, mother's day, when i wanted to see the kids myself on mother's day with my wife. and the first little girl i encountered, i asked her through a translator where is your

mother? and he said, i don't have a mother but i'm looking for my father in the united states. that's why i'm here. i heard that story over and over again on the i heard the story over and over again. i believe family unification is consistent with u.s. immigration policy. at the same time, we've got to maintain border security. we can't have policies that operate as a magnet for future illegal migration. i believe there are ways that, a new of policy priorities have been implemented and coexistent with one another. that's what i have to say. >> final thoughts? anything we didn't cover you want to get out before you go?

>> um -- i'm new to -- i was new to immigration law and policy. when i came into this job, you know before that national security law, fiscal law. i still deal with fiscal law. i've been disheartened and disappointed with how volatile the issue has become in american politics. i hope that people will look at immigration reform from a common sense point of view. what makes common sense? what's practical? what's pragmatic? i hope that through the good work of your organization simon

and others and speeches i will continue to make, people will recognize the great strides we've made in border security over the last 10 to 15 years in this administration and prior administrations. illegal immigration has gone down significantly in the last 15 years. through all investments we've made in taxpayer and resources, border security has gone up significantly in the last 15 years. clearly there's more to do to meet future border security challenges, and we're going to do that. we're committed to doing that. i'd like to do it with congress, but we'll find ways to do it without congress if we can't. a lot of people in congress were very anxious that we do something about the spike in

illegal immigration this past summer. okay. i agree with you. help me out with supplemental funding. congress was not able to pass supplemental funding. we dealt with the situation on the border by reprogramming from existing resources. i had to take several hundred million out of the disaster relief fund to pay for our response to the surge in the rio grand valley sector this past summer. fortunately we did not have a major event this summer. the hurricane season is about over. you've got to knock on wood on that one. so i'd like everyone to fully appreciate and understand great strides we've made in boarder security over the last 15 years, the common sense approach to reform efforts in recognition of

reality of broken immigration system. and to recognize what i believe is a fairly wide latitude within existing executive authority to fix the system. it can't be that we're not allowed to lift a finger to fix the system. we can't wait until congress acts. it can't be we're not allowed to take action in respect to reform of the system. we've identified a lot of ways we will which the president will speak to in coming days. i guess my last point on this is i hope that organizations such as this can help us remove some of the misapprehensions about border security in this country.

it doesn't help when public officials say things about theoretical threats, chasing ghosts on the southern border. so it's my responsibility to kind of unring that bill to talk about the facts. i hope that organization such as yours will continue to do so as well. those are my closing thoughts. sorry i went on a little long. >> well, what we do know is we're about to have, from all news accounts, a very spirited debate about all these issues in weeks and months to come. we know you'll be at the center of this with your able team. certainly we're going to continue to do our part in trying to make sure will there's data a driving the tv and helping policy makers navigate what is admitingly tough issues.

this is hard stuff. part of my mission and someone who's worked on these issues a long time, i helped in 1983. my involvement in policy matters go back literally two decades now. i'm proud of what hs has been able to do in unbelievably complicated politics and tough challenges. i hope you and your big team of tens of thousands of people get up everyday working on this stuff have pride in how they've made our border safer, immigration system safer and more humane. we have a lot more work to do. thank you for being here today. >> thank you. thanks. >> you can clap now.

tonight president obama will announce executive action on immigration. we'll bring you his remarks live at 8:00 p.m. eastern on cspan. her answer was no. >> i say to my good friend from wisconsin, that was part of the story. >> i thank my friend from california. >> this has british lineage. it comes from parliament hundreds of years ago.

if you've seen the proceedings from parliament, they have a similar meaning. it's a thinly frail approach to be polite to someone you don't care for. in the house of representatives where there are 435 members, a lot of these member and women don't know who each other are when they say my good friend. it's disingenuous to use another phrase in the book. in the case of the senate, there's only 100. they probably know each other. might not like each other anymore. there's a bettercquaintances if friends. >> on the world of political termolo terminolo terminology. the recall process of vehicles with takata air bags

installed. we'll be live at 10:00 a.m. eastern on cspan 3. the senate intelligence committee holding a confirmation hearing for nicholas to be the national counter terrorism director. it's live here on cspan 3. with live coverage of the u.s. house on cspan and senate on cspan 2, here on cspan 3 we c e compliment that coverage. on weekends, cspan 3 is home to american history tv with programs that tell our nation's story including six unique series. the civil war's 150th anniversary visiting battlefields and key events. american art facts and touring museums to discover what this reveals about america's past. the presidency, looking at the policies and legacies of our

nation's commanders in chief. lectures many history with top college professors in america's past. and our new series "real america." cspan 3 created by the cable tv industry and funded by your local cable and satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. live now to capitol hill for a hearing on defects in air bags manufactured by the japanese supplier takata and recall process of millions of vehicles equipped with then. honda and chrysler will testify today as well as a victim from the air bag defect from florida. live coverage on cspan 3.

. good morning everyone. the senator and i have been looking forward to this. we want to thank the witnesses for coming. we're here to investigate the link between defective air bags and the numerous injuries and deaths across the country, indeed across the globe. more than 7.8 million vehicles in the u.s. have been recalled because of defective air bags. just this week, the national

highway traffic safety administration announced that it was calling on all auto makers to expand that recall from a few states, what they called a regional recall to the entire country. well the first thing that needs to be done to take care of consumers. auto makers need to get a replacement part so that the air bags can be replaced that needs to be sent to the dealers. they need, because of people potential potentially the steering wheel, dash board. the dealers, automobile makers, need to provide a loaner vehicle

or a rental car for those who's cars cannot be immediately fixed. general motors recently took that kind of step for certain models with faulty ignition switches. there's no reason why the auto makers covered by this notice should not be required to take the same kind. i think it is absolutely imperative in view of the fear that has gripped the public by virtue of what has already been said and what will be stated in this hearing today that a loaner or rental car would be provided for someone if they cannot get their replacement of their defective air bag on the list

done immediately. owners should have a right to expect the cars they drive are as safe as possible. that's going to be what we're facing in the next immediate future as we dig into the question of what in fact is the problem. i've written to secretary fox urging him to impose civil penalties up to the full extent of his law on any company that refuses to provide drivers with an alternative form of transportation if they're going to have to wait to have their car repaired. the american people have a right to know about the story behind this air bag recall. that's why we're here today.

now let me show you some of the items. this is part of the steering mechanism. it would be facing the driver like this. it would look like this in the wheel of the steering column. of course the chemicals inside this mechanism upon impact, the chemical reaction causes inflation of the air bag. upon close examination you'll

see the little holes around the mechanism that the gas that is created by the chemical reaction comes out, inflates the air bag, and it's a device that has saved many, many people's lives. this compound, nitrate seems to have a problem. in the year 2000 it was changed as a compound, perhaps metal as well. when explosions occur, instead of the gases form to fill the air bag, additionally, it explodes with such force that

this metal shreds. as a result, what you see in this particular case of an air bag, metal has shredded it. here's a big hole. here's another hole. the very device that is supposed to save lives becomes a device that is taking lives. so that's absolutely unacceptable. now after the opening statements of the chairman and ranking members, i have asked an air force active duty first

lieutenant who happens to be stationed at the large egg land air force base at fort walton beach, florida to be our first witness. she will give you a first hand account as to what her encounter has been with the defective air bag. so, let me turn to our ranking member, senator, future chairman of this committee. senator, thank you for participating. >> thank you senator nelson serving as chairman of this morning's hearing to examine the alarming takata air bag recalls and actions of the national highway traffic safety administration. these are current issues that belong on the commerce committee's a agenda. i appreciate you calling this hearing to examine these issues in greater detail.

i first want to thank stephanie for being here today. thank you for your service to our country. we thank you for you coming here. she will explore matters of public safety and accountability. assuring the public's safety is priority. it's been shaken this year with problems in the industry. this year record fines are levied against toyota, gm and hyundai. with the latest problems of air bags, we are facing a failure with serious safety consequences. today we'll be asking familiar questions about how the faulty products made it into consumer's vehicles when the problem was first discovered, what steps if any could have been taken soon

tore say lives or prevent injuries. in this case, many would like to know whether the allegations report in the the new york times that takata knew and hid risks of the air bags years ago is true. questions exist about the approach to recalls and the agen agency's initial decision which they have since reversed for effective vehicles. the troubling strain of vehicles should be a wake up call. i believe we can do a better job of addressing issues as they a rise and holding auto makers and companies accountable to their mission of insuring safety on america's roadways n. recent years, congress enacted and they have sought to implement a robust reporting regime. the major auto makers and other manufactures have instituted or sought to improve safety reporting systems that encourage employees to report safety problems. reports of employees who's

concerns may have been ignored, silenced or possibly cover upper cyst. i believe we can do more to insure they're informed of potential defects as a quick as a possible. later today, i along with senator nelson will introduce the motor safety whistle blower act. i'm pleased senators on the forefront of recalls are also sponsors of this legislation. this bill will insenty vise employees to voluntarily provide information to the department of transportation. if such information leads to d.o.t. or department of justice inforcement actions that a total more than a million in penalties, the whistle blower would share in a portion of total penalties collected this. bill will protect whistle blower's ioidentitieidentities.

other programs have similar to report to securities and exchange commission and irs. if there are potential whistle blowers with information to help, identify more defects, we want them to come forward to that these problems can be identified earlier in the process. i think we would all agree that it's better to address a problem before injuries and deaths occur if at all a possible rather than fines imposed after the fact. i look forward toholders and co. we'll undoubtedly revisit these issues. having written president obama twice in the last eight months urging him to to swiftly feel the administrator position that has now been vacant 343 day, i'm pleased the president announced intention to nominate dr. mark

rose kind on the eve of this hearing. this nomination is long overdue. i look forward to reviewing this in a timely manner. to constituents watching this hearing, i urge you to pay attention to recalls and field actions. if you determine your vehicle is subject to recall get it repaired quickly. i want to thank the witnesses for being here today. i look forward to your testimony. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you senator. >> we want our two leaders in the subcommittee to make a short opening statement. the chair of the subcommittee senator mckaskel. >> thank you. i find it troubling but more importantly i am sad i am not surprised that we find ourselves examining another example of manufacture's failure to fulfill

safety obligations that could have saved lives. honda is under investigation for fail ago to provide early warning reports related to deaths the company linked to takata air bags. takata itself is under investigation by nitza and federal prosecutors over troubling claims it might have known a long time before it notified the auto manufacture customers of the public safety defects associated with millions of its air bags. ten auto makers have now recalled at least 7.8 million vehicles in the united states. under either safety recall or service campaigns related to defective air bags. what i want to try to get to the bottom of is what is the difference? isn't that difference important? a safety recall versus a service campaign. there seems to be confusion among the driving public about the scope and severity of these recalls. part of that is because not all

manufactures are treating this the same, using the same language, and we have fayed to have clarify from nitza in this regard. in this committee's consumer protection subcommittee, we have held three auto safety hearings where gm recalled 6 million vehicles earlier for a defective ignition switch largely ignored by the company and federal regulators more than ten years. sadly i think today we will hear many of the same themes we heard in the gm investigation. an industry that fears no consequences from the law, a regulator that lacks the resources and technical expertise to effectively do its job. i am pleased the president has finally nominated a candidate to serve as administrator, a position that has been vacant nearly a year, a critical year. i look forward to hearing from him particularly in regards to

his plans to strengthen the agency's over sight of the industry. dr. mark rose kind has z has been nominated and has a resume with years of work in the transportation safety. i have a lot of questions as we head to a new session of congress. this committee should make legislation reauthorizing nit sa a priority. we aren't going to agree on everything. i think there's common ground needed to act without delay. i look forward to working with the chairman in that regard and all members of this committee in the next congress. thank you senator nelson. >> thank you senator. senator heller, the ranking member. >> chairman, thank you. i'll keep my statement brief. before i begin, i want to acknowledge the lives lost due to the takata air bags and would like to thank lieutenant for being here today. thank you for your service to this country and for sharing

your story with this committee today. mr. chairman, i think this is the year of the air bags. gm had defects with air bags that would not deploy. now we have takata air bags that send shrapnel into the face of those that are driving. as this committee know, i know a little bit about cars. i race them, build them, break them, and i fix them. probably break them more than a race them. that seems to be the way it works out. i will tell you the most terrifying thing a driver experiences is a crash. at that a moment the only thing that matters in their lives is that air bag. we have common themes emerging from all of our hearings this year from this committee and our subcommittee. it's taken far too long for information found within the company that there is a defect and then getting these cars off the road. today i'm proud to stand with senators nelson, mccaskell and

introduce legislation to bring this forward faster by rewarding whistle blowers. it's my hope and our hope the whistle blower's act will solve the problems we're seeing time and zben with recalls and employees in these companies that have raised concerns about detects and warnings have not been properly vetted. it's my hope a significant monetary payout will get this information to the public faster. faster means saving lives. today this committee has takata here. we need to know what they knew and when they knew it. i'm troubled by the new york times article that alleges there may have been a cover up. i'm glad to have them here. the president submitted the nomination to the senate yesterday. i have called on the president to do this for months now. we'll review this nominee. i'm hopeful we'll be able to process accordingly.

they need an administrator. it's been almost a year. i feel the trust in this agency has been eroded. one of my concerns is they're not able to recognize defects fast enough. they're far too important for that to happen. i want to work with them and colleagues on solutions to that. a as you know, nevada will be producing cars very soon with the new tesla giga center. we need to make sure nitsa can handle cars of the future as well as cars that we have here today. thank you mr. chairman. look forward to testimonies and this hearing. >> with the indulgence of the committee, we want to get on into the testimony. after the lieutenant, we will have the next panel, the chairman will defer his questions so we can get the members plenty of time to have

their questions and then we have a third panel which is the administration, nitsa. let's get right to it. we are appreciative lieutenant you'd be willing to step forward. first lieutenant united states air force stephanieredman. graduate of university of texas, rotc graduate. one of her first duty stations of which she is a compliance and testing officer in the air force testing and evaluation command at the air force base. if you all can turn the posters, you can start to see something of the impact. she was driving a 2002 honda.

this is what happened to her. the shredded air bag just like the one that i showed you here on the left poster. this is what the car looked like. she had a passenger. you can see the air bag still inflated in the car. unfortunately -- and she has given us permission -- when the lieutenant was being carried to the hospital, that's what hah she looked like. so lieutenant erdman, if you would share with us your story of what happened. >> yes, sir. good morning everyone. ladies and gentlemen, my name is stephanieredman. i'm honored to be here today to serve as the voice for the

people who have been forever silenced because of this exploding takata air bags. on behalf of everyone who has suffered because of these defective air bags, i would like to thank the committee for holding this hearing. i hope that no other families will have to go through the ordeal my family and i have had to endure because this happened to me. on september 1st, 2013 my life was changed forever. i was driving my 2002 honda civic on highway 98 near egg land air force base, florida where i was stationed. i was on my way to get groceries with a friend. as i was driving, a car took a left in front of me. our cars collided. when the impact occurred, shrapnel from my car's a air bag shot through the air bag cloth and embedded into my right eye and cheek. i was instantly blinded on my right side. i felt gushing blood running down my neck and was terrified. when i got to the hospital, they

did a ct scan of my face. a metallic foreign piece had punctured my bone. the tip of the shrapnel had embedded in my right sinus. since that day, i've endured multiple surgeries and therapies. i have more to go still. my vision will never be the same. i will never be the same. my accident involved a moderate frontal impact. the headlights on the front of the vehicle weren't broken. my passenger had mild scrapes and bruises. i should not b have been injured the way i was. the photo the emt took of me with shrapnel embedded in my eye is scary to look at. it's necessary to grab the attention of those that have the ability to do something and keep

this from happening to anyone else. it is easy to think i'm the only one who has suffered because of this accident. it's also been exceptionally tough on my family. they try to be strong for me, and i see it. i can tell that when ever i talk about it, they are also hurting. i know i have physical scars about this tragedy, but people who care about me have scars as well. they are just the kind you cannot see. these companies should have done everything they could. they claim they notified customers as soon as they found out about the problem. that they expanded the recalls as they learned about each set of additional potentially affected vehicles as soon as they could. i believe that the facts show differently. it has been six years since the first recall covering these deadly takata air bags just starting at 394,000 is recalled.

i do not understand how crossing the border simply means the vehicle is now safe. i do not also understand why the dealerships that sell vehicles and service them are not notifying customers. american honda motor companies claim they notified the honda certified dealership where i bought my civic about the recall for the driver's side air bag february 2010. i took my i car to the dealership for service three times after they received the information. the honda dealership never told me about the recall. never per formed the recall repairs on my vehicle and never warned me about what might happen if air bags were deployed. honda clams they have sent a recall notice to my house in 2010. they have records showing that the information, envelope containing critical information was returned to them as undeliverable. instead of trying to notify me in another way a, they did

nothing to warn me. it is in honor of my family and friends that support me so very much that i ask the committee to demand real answers. it is an honor of family and friends of all who have been injured by these defective air bags that i ask the committee to insist that these companies explain why they waited to so long to identify all these potentially deadly vehicles. in honor of those that cannot be here today because they have been hurt or killed by dangerous products that i ask the committee to get to the bottom of why the companies did not try harder to warn us. i'm so honored to be here today to have the opportunity to tell my story. please understand i'm one of many people who have been affected by deadly air bags. i'm hopeful that congress will look at a way to improve the recall notification process. i hope there will be to no more mothers taken from their children or no more fathers

blinded by the exploding air bags. i ask the committee to do everything in its power to make sure every vehicle with the defective air bags are made safe. thank you. >> we will do that lieutenant. >> thank you sir. >> you have our promise. that's why we had this hearing today. we want to thank you for the courage of you stepping forward to come and tell your story. between what the lieutenant has said and the pictures, i think you get the picture. so, with the committee's permission, i'd like to get right on into the next panel. thank you lieutenant. you are very kind. appreciate it. all right. if we could ask the next panel please to come up.

mr. shimazoo. he is the senior vice president global quality assurance for the takata corporation manufacture of the air bags. mr. rick schostakic executive vice president of honda north america. mr. scott, vehicle safety and regulatory compliance, chrysler corporation group. thank you for coming. please be seated.

>> mr. shimazoo, we'll start with you. you are very accommodating to speak in english. this committee appreciates that. you have with you a translator if there's any difficulty and for you making the effort to speak in english today, we want you to know we appreciate it. mr. shimahzu. please proceed. >> thank you. chairman nelson and the ranking member and distinguished members of the committee. i am global vice president for the corporation. i am ohonored to appear before

this committee to honor the corporation on important issues and examination of today's hearing. at th takata's commission is make products to save lives and prevent serious injuries. when ever one of our products does not perform as expected, it is our first priority to understand the root of causes of the issue. if we identify a program in a product design, production or insulation, we do not hesitate to take necessary steps to insure that the program is addressed promptly and appropriately. all of us at takata know that air bag problems that have been in recent recalls involve public issues of public safety.

even though millions of takata air bags have inflated properly and and are saving lives and avoiding serious injuries in hundreds of thousands of accidents, any failure of an air bag to perform as designed in an automobile accident is incompatible with takata standards for highest projections. we are deeply sorry about each of the reported instances in which a takata air bag has not performed as designed and the driver or passenger had suffered personal injuries or deaths. our sincerest condolences go out to all those who have suffered in these accidents and to their families. takata is working closely with auto makers and nhtsa to support ongoing recalls. we are devoting extra ordinary

resources to producing on the schedule necessary to fulfill all auto makers orders. we are also devoting extensive efforts to attention to answering the quest for information about motors from nhtsa and other investigators. we are fully transparent with the government. takata strongly agrees with november 9, 2014 that the current forecast of ongoing productions and recalls should remain the specific of height of humility. we support the view that these must be the priority for depressment of suspect. it is imperative all owners of

affected vehicles in these regions respond to legal notices at earliest opportunity. we are confident that the air bag takata is producing today including the replacement of recalled units are safe. we have confidence in the integrity of our engineering and our current manufacturing processes. we believe that properly manufactured and installed air bag we are producing today will work as designed to save lives for expected life of automobiles. while each instance of an air bag failure is terrible and unacceptable to takata, it is also important to remember that takata air bags continue to deploy properly as they were designed in accidents. our air bags are helping to save

lives and prevent injuries on the road everyday. as we move forward, at thtakata continue to cooperate with operators and government regulators and will take whatever actions are determined to be necessary in the public interest. that will best advance the goal of safety for driving public. finally, as the committee is, english is not my native langua language. i'll do my best to answer questions english. i may need assistance from interpreter. >> of course you'll have that assistance. one of the things we want you to answer season about the change

to imonium nitrate and problems that occurred after. >> you are representative of honda, being the executive vice president of honda north america. talk to us also about the recalls and provisions of loaners and or rental cars. mr. schostakic. >> thank you chairman nelson, senator and members of the committee. my name is rick schostakic. i'm executive vice president with honda north america. on behalf of 28,000 employees in the u.s., 1300 automobile deal skpers more than 600 north american suppliers, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. i want to begin by expressing our deepest sympathies to those individuals and families who have been affected by these incidents. we offer sincere apologies to families of those that have

died, to those that have been injured including lieutenanteredman, and to those who have been in any way inconvenienced due to detects in takata air bags in our vehicles. air bags save thousands of lives each year, but we recognize even one customer who is injured or loses their life when an air bag does not perform as intended is one too many and is completely unacceptable. we understand the urgency of the current situation and are taking proactive steps to encourage honda and acura owners to get vehicles repaired. specifically to meet the needs of our customers related to these air bag recalls, we've posted written messages prominently on our websites to reassure customers we have procedures in place to address their individual needs. customers with affected vehicles who desire alternative transportation until their car is fixed have access to loaner

cars and rental vehicles at no cost to the customer. we are working in our service and parts divisions with our dealer network to insure that replacement inflay tors are available when and where they're needed. like many auto makers, honda looks to takata for supply of air bag components because takata was an internationally recognized safety systems supplier. as the manufacture of the complete vehicle, we relied on takata for expertise in this specific area of technology. we provided our performance requirements and takata designed the air bag components to those criteria. beginning with the 2001 model year, takata began to supply honda with a new generation of air bag components. by 2004, we had sold several million vehicles equipped with these takata air bags. it was then in 2004 when we

learned of an air bag inflay tore rupture in one of our vehicles and report had the to nhtsa. this remained the only air rupture we were aware of until three years later. since 2007, we have been involved in a safety investigation of takata air bag inflay tors. takata identified specific manufacturing issues as the primary factors of the rupture events. starting with the recall in november 2008, with every subsequent recall, we gathered component parts from the time period that a core responded to takata issues and provided those to takata for further investigation. additionally, we recalled vehicles that were outside of the range takata identified for the purpose of additional analysis. as new evidence identified new risks, honda acted to expand our

recall population. the investigation process has since 2007 been designed to replace defective takata a inflaters and seek out data a using the public recall process. the investigation continues to this day. with regard to the 2004 inflater rupture, takata advised us their analysis demonstrated it that had distinctly different characteristics compared to ruptures that led to the first recall. at honda, the founding principle of our company places the highest priority on quality of products and satisfaction of our customers. now, today, we are operating with even greater energy and greater focus to quickly address our customer's needs. with every action of our company, dedicating ourselves to

honor the relationship we have with our customers. thank you. >> mr. schostakic, you didn't say anything about loaners or rental cars. >> mr. chairman, i believe i did. customers with affected vehicles who desire transportation in the form of loaners or rental cars have them available to them at no cost. >> immediately? >> we have them in place now sir. >> for all dealers across the country? >> we've expanded our loaner program and have the option of rental cars. we will take care of our customers sir. >> let the record show that's been said. we have certainly had contrary information to this point. if that's the case, i certainly want to congratulate you for the obvious reasons. all right. mr. coonselman, regulatory

compliance and safety at chrysler. >> thank you. chairman nelson, ranking member thune, members of the committee. i am the senior vice president and head of vehicle safety and regulatory compliant at chrysler group. i lead an organization with a mission of safeguarding customers, a mission we embrace wholeheartedly. i'd like to thank the opportunity with the opportunity to appear today to discuss this important matter. today's au ae's automobiles are complex on the market. auto manufactures are more committed to developing advanced safety technologies to reduce fatalities and injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes. on a daily basis, we work to design, engineer and manufacture vehicles to withstand a myriad of operating conditions. promoting and insuring vehicle safety is a responsibility shared by auto makers,

suppliers, government, and consumers. chrysler looks forward to continuing this collective engagement with takata and nhtsa to address the current situation. chrysler group has been actively engaged with takata and nhtsa since takata first informed us in april 2013 that certain air bag inflaters used by other auto manufactures may malfunction on deployment. these inflaters described by the population have been linked to four fatalities. this group of inflaters has never been used in our vehicles. our vehicles were equipped with takata beta population inflaters. in april 2013, takata insured us the performance that led to the recall had been corrected. chrysler group engineers subsequently conducted a follow

up investigation and confirmed the beta inflaters benefitted there the upgrading process n. october 2013, we learned that one of our vehicles in southern florida was subject to a high pressure deployment involving a driver's air bag and causing a personal injury. this remains the one incident of its kind involving one of our vehicles. in response to this incident and working with at thtakata, we lad an investigation and conducted component testing. in may of 2014, takata again advised chrysler group of four incidents involving vehicles produced by other auto manufactures. those vehicles were equipped with takata inflaters similar to inflaters used in our vehicles. then in june of 2014, this year, chrysler group announced plans to replace inflaters in certain vehicles registered or purchased in four areas known for high

humidity, a factor believed to ha have played a role in these deflato deflators. our action covers 371 vehicles in florida, hawaii, puerto rico and virgin islands. the alpha inflaters are associated with the most severe events, substantially higher incident rate, and were found to contain a designed manufacturing defect. none of our vehicles were built with alpha inflater population. again our vehicles were equipped with beta inflaters. in our vehicles, these are known to have deployed as intended more than 10,000 times in the u.s. and 830 times in the areas that i just mentioned that are covered by our field action. as i previously stated, there's one incident involving a high pressure deployment in one of

our vehicles that took place in flori florida, a state covered by the renounced action. chrysler group works with nhtsa a as the situation evolves and will give additional information that the company received november 18th. in closing, i would like to reiterate our believe that promoting and insuring vehicle safety and responsibility shared by auto makers, suppliers, government consumers. chrysler group with work with at that a c-- with takata and othe >> was that deployment in south florida alpha or beta? >> from the beta population. >> and therefore of those that are in your vehicles, are you providing loaners and rental cars until they can get it fixed? >> as we deploy our field

action, we'll have rental cars available to those that need them. i reiterate our number one goal that you suggested is to have the parts available and quickly service the product. that's our number one goal. when that can't be accomplished we'll make loaner cars available. >> you said that's not until the middle of december? >> we launch that in the middle of december when parts are available to initiate this action. >> do they get rental and loaner cars in the next three weeks? >> in three weeks time, concerned customers can contact us through our hotline. and we'll on a case by case basis address those needs. >> thank you for making that clear. >> yes, sir. >> thank you mr. chairman. >> you expressed you have confidence in engineering and manufacturing processes. my question is what changes have you made to your manufacturing processes that give you the confidence to testify that the

replacement takata air bags are in fact safe? >> senator, let me explain about history of recalls. every time since 2007 or '08 time period, we have some issues identified. there is -- we identify the root of cause of the issues and we addressed issues to fix problems at same time we did recall. every time we identify problems and address issues and take care of. currently we believe the products we are producing right now are come from manufacturing

processes. we believe it's this product that works as designed and are safe. >> what change have you made in that process that leads you to believe that? >> yes. there are two major cause of problems according to what we studied in the past. one is this issue. pressed from the powder recontrolled the compression force to get the certain density in -- however, in the beginning of the productions, that's the force control is not well. as we expected according to investigation. we change the press machines.

now that new press machines can control the compression force for each cylinder. at same time we have the device which if compression force is not as designed, then it is detect that failure and the device would reject this problem. this device will take care of issues of compression force over you can say density issues. the other one is humidity control. immoniun nitrate has many advantage to use that however it is known sensitive to humidity. we put special control of the humidity during processes of

appropriate manufacturing and also assemblies. however, because of the issue exist in the past and pass and humidity controls is well enough so we since then we control the humidity during process in the plant much better so since then we can control the humidity much better. while we are manufacturing. >> there are media reports as i referenced earlier that takata may have been aware of the dangerous air bag defects as early as 2004. i know you've denied those allegations in the media, but we need answers from an independent source. about when takata became aware of the defect and if it was hid frn ntsa.

they reported on the ignition switch issue. will takata initiate an investigation and release a public report about whether there was any wrongdoing? >> according to the record of communication i confirmed, the date says may 2005. the communication picture court my understanding we started communication in 2005. if there were any communications before that point, i am not aware of that because i was not directly involved. but, again, the record i confirmed shows that the date may 2005. but at that time, only pictures available, no air bag -- not available at that point. so we check the production

record and at that time picture shows anomaly. however, the old records we checked doesn't show any system error. we reported back to the automakers. >> but will you initiate some sort of independent investigation? i know what you're talking act, some of the things you looked into, but i think there's a real concern here that perhaps isn't as independent as it could be. so have you given thought or would you initiate an independent investigation where someone outside the people can take a look at these things and report back about whether or not there was wrongdoing and if not, why wouldn't you do that? >> senator, since i was not directly involved at that time, i can't answer your question. >> i understand you can't at

that time. but prospectively now, would that be something -- i think for most of us that's something that would make sense, to have somebody that's independent take a look at this, examine this, and similar to what general motors did with the ignition switch issue. >> yes, senator, i agree with that. and we have the independent center to check material and processes, too, so actually we are doing this recently but maybe not at that time. >> okay. we can revisit that issue. very quickly, if i might, mr. chairman, mr. shostek, there are, as we heard from lieutenant erdmann, when she referenced that her vehicle was serviced multiple times at dealerships and after the recall but prior to the tragic accident, is there not some policy where your

dealers, when actually someone brings in a car like that, would at least notify the customer of some of these safety matters that she didn't receive notification until three days after her accident? >> indeed, senator, there is such a policy and we failed lieutenant erdmann and our dealer failed lieutenant erdmann. we heard her speak about notifications from hon do she did not receive, so we did not effectively get word to her of her recalled vehicle. in addition, as she told you, she brought the car to a honda dealer for other service. her vin number was not checked. and as a result we lost opportunities to repair her vehicle. we failed miss -- lieutenant erdmann and the dealer failed lieutenant erdmann. we have a policy. our dealers are independent franchisees, as you know. we communicate to them regularly about the importance of checking each car when it comes in for

service to see if there are any outstanding recalls. we communicated that in march of this year. we've communicated that a week or so ago. very often we're doing that. if you'd also look at the complete testimony they made, we are endeavoring to continuously improve way we reach out to customers. i have to say the populations involved in these recalls are older vehicles. it is harder to track down the current owner. that is not an excuse. we have to do better. we failed lieutenant erdmann. our dealer failed lieutenant erdmann. >> and because they're older vehicles that would seem like the ideal time when somebody brings it in. >> i agree, senator thune. to our everlasting regret, we missed those opportunities. >> and in the mail, we're finding out, isn't the most effective way to get that message out there. and these dealerships may be dropping the ball. so i'm interested in knowing

what you intend to do to improve the current policy of chrysler in the future. and my time's up, mr. chairman, but if i could get mr mr. kuehnesillman quickly to respond to chrysler's policy and what we're going to do differently. >> certainly. shim to what mr. schostek said, our policy is through the dealership to communicate to consumers when they come to the diehlership what open recalls are on their vehicle. in fact, the electronic systems automatically has this information. it's readily available. they don't have to work very hard to find it. it is our policy that they not only communicate but make every effort not to have that consumer leave the dealership without scheduling or performing that service. on site. >> i would suggest that the next three weeks might be critical and that you all need to be forward leaning on that.

and, mr. schostek, thank you for stepping forth and taking some responsibility, specifically with regard to the lieutenant. and mr. shimizu, i would urge you, as senator thune has requested, and this xhcommittee will follow up, that this independent inquiry be quick and swift. >> thank you for holding this hearing. thank you to our wjss. i really believe there has to be a full investigation of what happened here, and i say this on behalf of a victim in my state, who was driving in her car in north oaks, minnesota. it was a 2002 bmw, but this actually happened in 2013.

and there had not been a recall, and that air bag exploded in her face, and she is permanently blind. that's why this looking back and trying the figure out what happened is very important to me. why did it taik takata years to realize this? when did takata know that the defective part was not limited to certain honda dealers? and did takata conduct secret tests on those air bags and not report the findings? those are ke key questions on behalf of this constituent in addition to the fact of how ntsa handled this, which i'm sure we'll be dealing with with the next fanl. my first question, mr. schostek, is honda has been aware of these air bags for years and you issued the first recall back in 2008 and since then it has expanded multiple times. why do it that way? why doesn't honda just order one

expansive recall from the outset and avoid these additional recalls? >> yes, senator. in 2007 we saw a series of inflator ruptures defects and began our investigation. in working with takata, they identified specific manufacture problems in their manufacturing plants that were related to the time those invape flai or thes were produced which we put into our cars. we recalled based on that information. we expanded the recall, then another different manufacturing issue was brought to our attention by takata. and in all, we did four recalls from 2008 through 2011. i think it's important for the committee to understand that those four recalls which we did had not geographic boundary.

they had no geographic boundary and the injuries that occurred, 45 injuries because of rupture in honda vehicles, 43 of those correlate to the time of those takata manufacturing concerns. and to our regret, all four fatalities correspond to that same time. so we're talking about recalls that were done 2008 to 2011 because of different manufacturing issues that takata made us aware of and pretty strong data that shows this is what where the majority of the problems have been occurring, and those recalls were national -- were -- not -- >> i wasn't saying they were regionally limited. just you have these recall after recall after recall when clearly there's these red flags. the reason it matters so much so this constituent who's permanently blind is this was in 2013. it just seems -- it's a different manufactu